


The Bad Date That Never Happened

by Aer



Series: RobRae Week 2018 [2]
Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: Day 2, F/M, Humor, Prompt Fic, Robrae week 2018, blind dates, robrae - Freeform, short fic, things get sort of you’ve got mail esque
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 18:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14195478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aer/pseuds/Aer
Summary: Ravenreallydoes not want to go on this date.





	The Bad Date That Never Happened

**Author's Note:**

> Entry for Day 2, Please Save Me from This Bad Date! It kind of went a different direction... I haven’t been sticking to the letter of the prompt very well this year. Hope you enjoy!

Raven stared at Starfire, speechless. The alien girl beamed back at her. Raven raised an eyebrow. “No.” Starfire beamed harder. 

“But I have been told it is a time honored tradition for friends to arrange dates for those that are single and desire a match!” Starfire floated a few inches upwards in her excitement. “And this will be wonderful for you, Raven, I just know you will like him!”

“Blind dates are not something I want.” Raven’s voice was flat. “Nor do I want a match. I am perfectly happy being single.” She stalked back down the hall away from the common room. Clearly, staying in her room today was a better option. 

“But you will have fun!” Starfire pursued her. “Blind dates are a wonderful part of Earth culture, Beast Boy assured me!”

Raven walked faster. Just twenty feet and she’d be at the sanctity and sanity of her own, private, _quiet_ room. 

“Even Robin has agreed to go on one!” Starfire cried out, perhaps sensing she was losing her audience. 

Raven pitied him. Starfire was certainly a force of nature, but Raven was determined. She would not make Robin’s mistake. She would not give in. She reached her room, and turned to face her friend, snapping. “Starfire. I don’t want to go on a blind date. I will not be going on a blind date. Ever. And that is final.”

Raven slammed the door shut on whatever Starfire tried to say next, sighing in relief as the door muffled any sound. Peace, quiet, and absolutely no horrendous _blind dates_. Just what she needed.

* * *

Raven offered a near grimace of a smile to the waiter as he refilled her water glass, again. She knew she was early, but she hadn’t been able to take any more of Starfire’s energy. Or the multitude of dresses she had tried to make Raven try on. She’d finally escaped by insisting she should be early to the- she shuddered- _date_ , to make sure there was no mixup with location or time. 

There wasn’t. She wished there had been, but she was in the right place, a small cafe on Main Street, and it was almost time for her date to show up. Checking her watch again, Raven cursed both Starfire and herself. Starfire for getting the idea, and herself for being stupid enough to give in. Starfire always got her way, no matter how much Raven tried to resist. 

She pulled out her phone. _We’re still on for meeting after we escape this hell Starfire got us into, right?_ She texted Robin. Starfire had certainly been busy, to find two dates for the two Titans least likely to want one. 

Her phone buzzed. _Absolutely._ Raven sighed in relief, a more genuine smile flitting across her lips. She didn’t know what she’d do without Robin. He was a bastion of sanity among the craziness of her life, and she couldn’t wait to get away from this place and spend a nice night with her best friend. Having a pact to give each other an excuse to get out of this disaster was the best thing possible for tonight.

The minute hand inched closer to the half hour mark and her date. Raven felt her stomach churn. Away from Starfire and her relentless energy, Raven was questioning more and more why she had even come. It was bound to be awful- Starfire’s taste in men did not often align with Raven’s. Or sanity. 

The clock ticked onwards. It was almost time, now. 

Finally, Raven had had enough. She couldn’t do this. Shoving back from her table, she grabbed one of the napkins, scrawling a short note apologizing for standing up her date as something had come up- she was antisocial, not rude- and suggesting he contact her friend to try to arrange something at another time. She didn’t sign it. That done, she set down a few dollars for the waiter, and fled. Raven made it out of the cafe without being stopped, breathing a sigh of relief as she felt a rock vanish from her stomach. She couldn’t believe she’d ever agreed to this. She headed straight for the bench she had arranged to meet Robin at. Sitting down, she sighed again, feeling strangely tired. She was never letting Starfire set up a date for her again, just waiting for it to start had been stressful enough! She couldn’t imagine going through with it again, much less making it through an actual date. 

Lost in thoughts, she didn’t hear footsteps approaching. A hand tapped her shoulder, and Raven jumped. Spinning her head around, she saw Robin, also in civilian dress, smirk at her. 

“Robin.” Raven greeted, feeling a smile well up. 

“Hey. You’re early.” It was only a few minutes past the meeting time. 

Raven nodded. “So are you.” She noted. 

Robin shrugged. “I got stood up. She left a note though.” Strange. That was exactly what Raven had done- Raven felt her mind blank as a napkin with a very familiar logo on it was tagged out of Robin’s pocket. An even more familiar handwriting covered it. 

That was her note. 

That she’d left at the cafe. 

For her blind date. 

Starfire had set her up on a blind date with Robin!? 

_Robin?_

...Maybe she shouldn’t have left. 

And did she seriously just think it would be nice to go on a date with Robin? 

_**Robin?** _

...Who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, having just asked a question. Raven shook herself out of the reverie she’d fallen into, shoving her revelation down to be processed later. 

“What was that?” She asked. 

“I wondered if you had gotten stood up too?” Robin stuffed the note away. 

Raven seized onto the excuse gratefully. “I did. No note for me though.” She deadpanned. Robin winced. 

“Sucks. Hey, the girl said I should arrange another time with Star. What do you think?”

Raven could not sit here and advise him on whether he should go on another date with her right now. She was still reeling from the idea that she might not mind going on a date with him. Arranging her own blind date by proxy was just a step too far for her beleaguered mind to handle. 

“You really want to think about more blind dates right now?” She demanded, pushing herself up. “After this mess?”

Robin grimaced. “Point.” Raven nodded sharply. 

“Let’s go get ice cream.” She suggested. “I, personally, don’t want to think about anything other than what flavor to get for the next twenty minutes at least.”

“It’s going to take you that long to pick a flavor? You’re slipping, Rae. You used to stretch it out to thirty.” He teased, and she grimaced at him as she started walking. 

“Let’s just go.” Raven snapped. 

Robin laughed. 

Raven was never doing this again.

* * *

Starfire had her hands folded pleadingly beneath her chin. “Please, Raven? He was so sad to hear you couldn’t make it.” 

Yeah, right. Raven couldn’t imagine Robin feeling sad over something so petty, for someone he didn’t even know he knew. 

“I made you dinner reservations. At The Crown.” Starfire tempted. Raven paused. One of her favorite restaurants... But she’d have to admit to Robin that she was the one that had stood him up last time... But they did amazing steaks there, and the reservation list was a mile long... She actually wasn’t sure how Starfire had managed this one. Probably pouted at them like she was now. It was very hard to resist that pout. 

“Fine.” She ground out. She’d admit it, if only for the steaks. And to get Starfire to stop trying to set them up. 

Raven nodded sharply. Robin might tease her, but it would be better to get this over with.

* * *

It was a half hour after they were supposed to have met. Raven still hadn’t managed to bring herself to leave. She stared at her phone as the number changed again. She was thirty one minutes late now. Raven cursed. She couldn’t do it. She’d just have to tell Starfire she’d started feeling sick and had laid down. 

Her phone went off. It was Robin. 

_Got stood up again. No note this time._

She typed back with shaking fingers. _Unfortunate._

 _What’s unfortunate is wasting these reservations._ He shot back immediately. _It’s for two at the Crown. Want to come?_

Raven swallowed hard. She should tell him. 

_Sure. What else are friends for? You’re paying._

_I’m the son of a billionaire. I always pay. Come on, we’ll lose it if we don’t claim it soon. It was for a half hour ago._

Raven knew. She didn’t say so, instead choosing to appear through a portal near the restaurant a few minutes later. Spotting her, Robin grinned. 

“Rachel! Glad to see you could make it!” Raven smiled slightly, accepting the arm he offered. 

“Richard.” She acknowledged. Robin exchanged a few words with the maitre d’, and he swiftly led them to their table. Seated, Robin grinned at her. 

“Well? Better night than you were expecting, right?” Raven had informed him earlier that Starfire was attempting to set her up again as well, but she hadn’t seen the mysterious date either. 

Raven smirked. “The food, at least, is much better. The company? Debatable.”

Robin laughed. “Ouch.” He clearly wasn’t too wounded by her insinuation, as he never stopped smiling. 

The night was wonderful. 

Raven never did tell him.

* * *

Starfire sighed. “Again, Raven? You should at least go to this one to apologize if nothing else.” The girl scolded. Raven shrugged. 

“It was your idea, not mine.” She pointed out. 

“Still, you agreed to go!”

“Only because you wouldn’t stop bringing it up.” Raven sighed. 

“Still! You have stood up this poor man twice now!”

Raven groaned. “Fine, Star. What is it now?”

“A walk around the park.” 

“Fine. I’ll go, apologize, and you’ll stop setting me up?” Raven narrowed her eyes at Starfire. The redhead puffed out her cheeks before scowling, but finally nodded when Raven didn’t budge. 

“Very well. But I really think you’d like him.”

That was the problem. Raven grimaced. “Just, make the date.” She sighed. “I’ll go.”

She didn’t go. The very thought of telling Robin was starting to make her throat close up. If he got mad at her, she didn’t know what she’d do. Robin was her best friend, her rock, her... Crush?

Sometimes, Raven really hated herself. 

Robin called her after being stood up again. He was at their favorite ice cream parlor and wanted to know if she wanted something. Raven’s heart was doing flips. She went out to meet him. 

“Raven!” Robin blinked. “You didn’t need to come out, I know you were meditating.” 

“I finished faster than expected.” In sync as always, they both turned away from the path back to the tower and starting walking. Through the park. Raven knew this was getting ridiculous. 

Robin sighed. “You know, I think I’m going to tell Starfire to stop. Clearly, this girl really doesn’t want to date right now, and as much fun as it is getting stood up, I’m kind of tired of it.” He told her, and Raven had to force herself to swallow. This had gotten much too far out of hand. She was ridiculous, and more than a little sick of this bout of cowardice. 

“Robin.” She said slowly. “I have something to tell you.”

He quirked an encouraging eyebrow. 

“The girl Starfire has been trying to set you up with...” Raven almost couldn’t force out the words. “It’s me.”

He just blinked at her. 

“She wouldn’t stop bugging me until I agreed to go on a blind date, and then I left early because I couldn’t do it. I left that note and I figured it was the end of things. Then I found out she was trying to set me up with you.” Raven was babbling. Why couldn’t she stop talking? Usually she never had a problem being silent. “I was going to tell you at the restaurant, but it was such a nice night that I didn’t want to ruin it.” She continued. “I was going to come today, but I got worried you’d be mad at me.” Raven bit her lip. “Are you?”

“Raven.” Robin sighed, shaking his head. His eyes were shadowed. 

Raven swallowed. Robin sighed again, before starting to chuckle. 

“Raven. I know.” She blinked at him, stupefied. He grinned. 

“You left a note. Raven, how many people, exactly, do you think write in looping cursive with flourishes at the end of each word? That style fell out of popularity as soon as printing became more acceptable and penmanship stopped being something schoolkids were graded on.” 

Raven blinked again, before venturing. “So...?”

“So no, I’m not mad. I’ve actually been enjoying spending time with you.” Robin smiled at her. 

“Oh...”

They’d slowed to a stop beneath a tree sometime surging her ramble. Raven looked up at him, ice cream forgotten in her hands. 

“Well, I guess I can tell Starfire she can stop now, right?” She finally said. 

Robin’s smile turned wry. “I’d prefer the next date we go on to be one I’ve asked you on and we both know about, yes.” Raven nodded, half listening. 

“So I’ll tell Starfire that this just isn’t working- wait. What?” She stared at him. 

Robin snorted at her. “I mean, I’d like to ask you on a date. Myself. No blinds or friends involved.” He clarified. 

Raven blinked. “You. Want to go one a date. With me?” 

Robin sighed. “Yes. I do. Will you go on a date with me? That clear enough?”

“...Why?” Robin groaned, shoving his hands into his hair. 

“Because I like you! Impossible woman.” He added quietly. 

“Oh.” 

“So?” Robin prompted. “Please don’t leave me hanging like you have the last three times.” Raven winced. 

But didn’t leave him hanging. 

Turns out, dates are a lot more fun when you go on them willingly.


End file.
